I wouldn’t spit on ye if ye were on fire!

There are expressions that are so colloquial even a person living in the region may not recognise them. It reminds me of my son who had been taken to a small mountain village on the island of Rhodes in Greece and was disturbed to find no one seemed to speak Greek. By now fluent in this language he found it disturbing that he could neither understand anyone nor make them understand him.  A dear friend of mine had taken him with her family to visit this remote village and was unaware of how disturbing Daniel had found each and every interaction. It turned out that particular village had a very heavy accent that even native Greeks would have found hard to follow.  This happens almost everywhere to some degree. Here in Northern Ireland, we have many expressions that are very confusing for outsiders. For example, instead of saying yes, we say aye (pronounced "I").  I remember visiting an elderly uncle, in Craigavon hospital, and having to translate for him for the local nurses who just could not follow his strong border accent.  There are many obscure expressions we use in Northern Ireland that when abroad I must remember not to use to avoid confusion.

Saying                                                         Meaning

What's the craic?                     What is going on?

Houl yer whisht                     Shut up and listen!

Boys a dear                     expression of surprise

My grandfather would greet us with this expression ("Boys a dear"), repeated two or three times when we walked into his home, and the delight in his voice as he said it was the most welcoming sound I can remember as a child.

Jammy sod                             Meaning a person is really lucky

                                                                    (usually resentfully said)

Scundered                                                    feeling disgusted and upset

Will you stop faffin about                     Would you stop messing about!

He seems dead on                     He seems a good person

We'll have a yarn                     We will have a good chat

I wouldn’t spit on ye if ye were on fire     If you were burning I would not waste my spit

                                                                     on you to put it out

I can remember an older guy in the school bus trying to chat up a schoolgirl and she responded with the devastating response “I wouldn’t spit on ye if ye were on fire” 

Would you look at that eejit     Would you look at that fool

It's pure baltic out there              It’s very cold weather out there

I'm foundered out here              I’m freezing out here

my nerves are up to high doh      I am highly stressed

Were you born in a field             Are you an animal that you don’t close doors

I fell in the shuck              I fell into a muddy ditch

I can recall visiting an aunt of mine who continued to herd cattle in the fields into her nineties and would rear grandchildren on her lap sitting beside a black range in the kitchen.  She used a massive coke bottle filled with milk with a huge teat to feed these babies and every year yet another baby seemed to replace the one that had grown.  She did have seven sons and one daughter and lived into her hundredth year.  I once remember her greeting us along the lane with a tiny muddy toddler in her hand saying she had just pulled him from the shuck!

I am absolutely boggin I am completely covered in mud/dirt

Catch yourself on! You cannot be serious!

Fancy a dander? Would you like a walk?

My father always told the story of a lad in his village who took his loved one for a daily dander.  They were engaged after 14 years of such formal walking out and to all accounts had a successful and happy marriage.  Courtship in those days was sometimes slow and steady.

Will ye quit your gurning! Stop complaining or moaning!

You better wind your neck in! I’m warning you to stop speaking like that!

 I'm dying for a poke I’d really like an ice-cream cone

When we visit a seaside town my mother, now in her 89th year, will often announce gleefully, “Shall we have a poke?”

Then, there are the particular expressions that were unique to my family.  My grandfather used these and I thought they were normal expressions everyone knew,

He’s a shit house rat The piggery had huge rats as big as cats and

                                                                were very aggressive so unscrupulous dishonest

                                                                characters that you should not trust were called this

Do you wanna grow a pig’s foot? If you don’t eat this food you will end up

                                                                growing a pig’s foot

As a child, if you were reluctant to clean your plate of food this expression would be whispered in your ear in an ominous tone by my grandfather.  I never understood the connection between not eating and the possibility of this deformity but the threat had its effect and no crumb would be left.  Rather than a long description of how healthy the particular food was this ominous prediction quickly insured no food was ever wasted.

The strange thing is that such different dialects are not only hard to follow but can lead to isolation or misunderstanding.  However, the words we use are just one aspect of trying to communicate. Almost every home has its own subtle peculiar language both in terms of vocabulary used, tone, volume and atmosphere.  Things that appear confusing to others just do not translate.  It is no wonder then that many of us struggle at times to get our message across.  Despite having the same basic language, we sometimes do not recognise the particular dialect being used.  Even when we know the dialect we occasionally don’t understand that family’s conversational norms.  Their sensitivities, their education level, the unseen conflict zones and their history of family communication. There can be no-go areas that can make a minefield into which you can stumble unaware.  This business of relating to others is a journey that real life is made of.  

There will be mistakes and misunderstandings but there is just so much to learn from this game and so much more to be gained than lost.  Everyone we meet is an opportunity that is infinitely precious if we are humble enough to see it that way.  Making communication work with others strengthens both their and our own abilities in many ways.  Having the empathy, sympathy, and insight to realise that it may not always run smoothly ensures we don’t give up at the first obstacle.  Just because we fall at a few fences does not mean we should quit the race.  It just means we may need more practice with a wider range of people over a longer time period.  Sometimes what we cannot understand with our mind, we can grasp with our heart and what we cannot feel with our heart we can sense in our soul.

“The soul has been given its own ears to hear things that the mind does not understand.” 

Rumi

Reader - final installment

This is the fourth of a science fiction series ( to read the first three click on hyperlinks below)

Reader part 1

Reader part 2

Reader part 3
Reader part 4

Masters in Intuitive ability ‘Readers a social history’ – by Cherry Godwin

(published postumously -  in her memory)

It has long been cited that readers emerged as a byproduct of brain transplant technology. According to Wentzky (2024) by not replacing the entire brain organ it allowed the brainstem of the recipient and the transplanted brain to communicate. This rudimentary brain communication contributed to the development in offspring of telepathic abilities, Smith and Stevens (2027). These studies have fuelled some to dismiss those who develop intuitive tendencies as genetic errors, medical mistakes or even as waste byproducts. Of course, the scientists involved in such transplants have clearly argued that such gross simplifications are an erroneous distortion of the facts.

They have instead concentrated on the insights, the reader’s ability, brought to neuroscience in general. The stigma suffered by readers was nothing new. The inquisition/expulsion/targeting of ‘the different’ had historical parallels in terms of race/religion/disability.  Historically speaking, this ever-enduring fear of others has given rise to not only persecution but numerous wars for millennia. Race riots, religious clashes, the growth of terrorism and a growing divide between the rich and the poor fuelled upheavals right up to the beginning of the 22nd century.  The situation might have escalated further had it not been overtaken by two external events which decimated human society.

1.   The pandemic on a global scale changed human interactions both socially and internationally. The loss of life had not been experienced since the Spanish flu of 1918 that killed 40 million. One early impact had been a social isolation that became necessary to avoid contagion. Almost no aspect of human interaction was left unaffected. Even the handshake that most primitive of greetings (developed to restrict the sword arm of your potential enemy) did not survive. Communities became more rural as larger numbers perished in urban settings. International travel became less common.

2.   Severe climate change sped up the pace of this deterioration in transportation. Due to sea levels rising, more than had been predicted, coastal regions including almost all the worlds major ports (Hubs of cargo transportation) were inoperable. Speeding up of the earth’s engine meant there were more intense storms/dust/volcanic eruptions/earthquakes/droughts and floods. The atmosphere (Due to holes appearing in the ozone level) no longer protected the population from increased UV rays. Nor did it aid communication systems as solar flares regularly knocked outside satellites. Even communication at microwave level (WiFi) was impacted.

These global changes transformed society. The fear of others combined with poor communication systems and poor transport routes triggered the rise of opportunistic political groups. Scientists called for a rational approach to the challenges but were seriously damaged by the discovery that climate change had been fuelled by the very technology developed in their ranks.

Social anthropologists on recognizing the changing structures of human society began groundbreaking studies of the grass root communities beginning to emerge. Such close social groups, isolated in rural settings, began to exhibit customs and mannerisms that reminded the researchers of much older tribal societies. Not only, much more self-subsistent in nature but also demonstrating increasing social interaction at the micro-community level. Many published papers showing parallels with pre-industrial tribal groups.

In a society where seas became the main barriers between communities the emergence gradually of three Superstates (named after the three seas that separated them) seemed organic. Technologically society developed in scientific hubs and progressed quickly. Scientific knowledge had not been lost during pandemic and climatic changes. Careful data storage meant that when scientific communities could flourish (as in Superstate funded Hubs) the explosion of technological breakthroughs startled everyone. Transplant technology was just one field, which benefited from these hubs but there were others. In fact, it was precisely due to the massive restructuring that scientific cross discipline collaboration became rampant. This brought new fields of research. One such crossover between fields was between neurologists studying brain transplant development and those social anthropologists investigating new community dynamics. When presenting results of readers telepathic abilities in close proximity to others, anthropologists pointed out that in some very close-knit communities of non-readers there seem to be a growing intuitive link between members who had prolonged exposure to each other. This included sensing of moods, being aware of small and subtle changes in behaviour or habits. This coincided with a dramatic drop in suicide rates. It almost seemed as if social isolation could be inversely linked to the health of the community.

One social anthropologist pointed out that in ancient tribes if a witchdoctor cast a spell on a troublemaker within the community the following social exclusion would invariably cause the victim subjected to such isolation to die. The neurologists wanted to know if isolation had been linked to suicides in other societies. Exposure of such a link became evident in many societies from the rural isolated Australian outback areas in the 21st-century to elderly living in inner-city areas of France. 

Neurological studies of twins, highlighted instances of links built up via genetic similarities and close proximity in the womb. Again it repeated and reinforced earlier studies that actually brain communication was a result of enough close physical exposure.  Brains were evidently designed to communicate in huge swathes of ways that far exceeded our previous understanding. Science’s inability to spot such phenomena was largely a result of ‘not looking’. Once attention was turned to this feature, all sorts of evidence began to emerge. When females live in close proximity, their menstrual cycle is quickly gets in sync. Couples who live together in close proximity for many decades flagged up coincidence of thoughts and insights that were just milder versions of the readers abilities. The brain’s plasticity continued into adulthood and enabled unexpected linkage.

It was soon demonstrated that intuitive links developed in communities and between individuals was actually a healthy community in operation. In fact, isolation and the lack of such contact was not only unhealthy but in some cases deadly. Studies of human brain communication began to let the scientific community put readers back into a continuum of mainstream abilities. Instead of being caricatured as medical waste, they were in fact exhibiting skills that human society needed to cultivate quickly. Living in a close-knit community was as important as a healthy diet. Such genuinely close-knit groups are more welcoming of others. This embracing of individuals, despite their abilities/or lack thereof was indicative of a society in the process of development. That intuitive ability allowed each member to learn from and contribute to their betterment of their society. In this environment social exclusion of readers by Superstate’s such as Pacifica could be seen as flawed as earlier ideologies supporting genocide. 

To choose to reject others led to to exclusion. Whatever steps taken in that direction began to descend into a sliding form of apartheid. It inevitably begins focused on one specific group but soon morphs into targeting more and more as unwanted. In fact, the question becomes less, ‘Who do we not want?’ but more, ‘who will we retain?’. Even those who supported the exclusion policies initially can find themselves in later years the target of these same expulsions. Such piecemeal dissection of society creates fear and confusion.  In these divided and fearful societies leaders become disproportionately empowered and corrupt.

In deciding which direction to take for the future, perhaps there are parallels to be found in the biology that gave rise to readers in the first place. Early organ transplants including heart, lung limbs etc involved heavy-duty immune suppressant medication to avoid rejection of the new organ. This had major side-effects and impacted considerably recovery statistics.  Eventually, science uncovered an effective solution. The Tissue Generated Linkage Technique (TGLT) which did away with the need for immune suppressants.  This involved recognizing that that it was the interface between donor organ and recipient that caused most of the problems.  By growing in situ manufactured tissue that diluted boundaries, the body could be fooled into accepting the new organ.  Organ rejection was all but eliminated and transplant technology proceeded at an incredible pace.

Brain transplants became possible and although highly controversial were carried out. The question of the hour was, ‘which was the human’. The brain being given a new body or the body, being given a new brain. Legislation was of the opinion that the higher organ (I.e. the brain) would have to be perceived as the human host. When the existence of the brainstem of the donor body became evident the legislation had to be revisited. If there are two sentient beings in the one body, which one constitutes humanity.  Before legislation could even be formulated science showed how quickly the new brain and brain stem began to communicate and indeed act as one. Such evident synchronicity seemed to preclude viewing them as separate entities. The brain sections, instead of competing to dominate each other, evidently approached proximity as a means of establishing a multitude of communication channels. Including the development of high-level neural linkages that neither had ever created before. It would seem rather than otherness or rejection of a foreign organ, the brains choose a more creative and inclusive path. Reaching out to this new organ with curiosity and openness.

This responsiveness of both parts of the brain to totally new possibilities of communication is perhaps an indicator of the general path an ever-advancing civilization should take. Inclusion, clear communication, working for the progress of the whole system, all of these, our brains indicated must be the priority.  Surely, when we contemplate the future of humanity these lessons must be embedded in all our interactions.